Bah Humbug
by He Fell For Fiction
Summary: Mira loves her siblings more than anything, but she also loves her girlfriend Erza. Erza wants to spend Christmas and Christmas eve along with just her, but Mira wants her siblings with them. A spat and a mishap on Christmas Eve leaves Erza out in the cold. (Erzajane Christmas fluff and some Lucy x Levy)


"Bah!" Erza muttered. "Humbug!" She flared up the collar of her jacket and hunched herself deeper into her scarf, allowing the dark blue wool to tickle her nose, which was raw from breathing in icy air. Instead of joy this Christmas Eve's night, she felt a bitter cold like the wind fill her heart.

She was supposed to be spending the few days leading up to the joyous holiday with her girlfriend's family and her girlfriend herself. However, a problem arose in the form of a comment from Erza. The redhead wanted to spend her Christmas weekend alone with her girlfriend for the guild had already had their Christmas party, but Mirajane had other ideas. It was the first Christmas she wasn't living with her siblings-Erza and Mira had moved in together-and she wanted to invite them over to celebrate the holiday and the occasion of her moving in with her significant other. She wasn't so pleasant about the fact she had to share her girlfriend on the occasion. It was selfish, yes, but she hardly saw her for she always was working.

She shut her eyes and the previous events flickered in her head.

 _"I don't see why we can't spend at least_ _ **one**_ _day without your siblings," Erza grumbled. She grabbed one of the cookies her girlfriend had laid out to cool. Her fingers graced over the frosted snowman cookie with a strawberry fruit leather scarf just to be abruptly slapped away._

 _"They're family, Erza. Even if you're not related to them, they're your Nakama," Mira accused._

 _"By that logic I should be allowed to spend it with my team, but I canceled my plans with them to spend it with you." Erza grit her teeth and rubbed the stinging from her hand._

 _"Well, you're spending it with me." Mira started to frost the Christmas tree cookies she made._

 _"But not how I wanted. This is our first Christmas living together. We were supposed to stay in, bake together, open presents, cuddle up and watch Hallmark movies. Now, what are we doing? I sit around while you and your siblings do your traditional Christmas. I'm the outsider here. Don't you see? This is like we're married and this is the dreaded holiday with the in-laws. I love them, but I love being alone with you," Erza spat._

 _"Well, it's not going to change!" Mira scorned. "Plus we had Christmas with them two years ago. We had thanksgiving with them this year. What's different about this to you?"_

 _Erza bit her lip. She sighed. No, she was not going to that to justify her argument. "I just…want to be alone with you."_

 _"Well deal with it. It's too late to cancel on them. Take it or leave it." Mira rubbed her hands on her apron before placing them on her hips. She furrowed her brows and glared at her partner. Erza looked away and pouted like a child. She did it when she didn't get her way. Usually, Mira found it adorable, but right now she wanted nothing more than to slap the woman like they used to as kids. However, she knew things were different. She could hit a rival without blinking, but a lover? That was a hell no!_

 _"One day! I'm asking for one day without them!" Erza cried, slamming her hands down. Her surprising strength was enough to knock over the open bottle of vanilla extract Mira had on the table._

 _Mira cursed as she saw the brown liquid spill over the recipe cards she had. They were from a small tin she had kept from her childhood home. Her mother's recipes! "Son of a bitch!" She quickly cleaned everything up, growling in anger. Her cookies and the recipes were soaked in the overly sweet liquid._

 _Erza scrambled to help, clumsily moving things and trying to sop up the vanilla with paper towels. "Sorry. Sorry. Sorry." She grabbed the paper and threw them in the trash. As she moved, she felt slender and strong fingers grab her arm._

 _"Put them down and get out!" Mira hissed. She grabbed the cards and shoved Erza away. She held the last thing she had to give her siblings of their past tightly in her hands._

 _"They're just notecards. We can find a new recipe-"_

 _Mira fumed and the scar from her Satan Soul form started to etch in her face. "GET OUT! I don't want to see you! Do You want a night without Lisanna and Elfman? You got it. You have one without me as well!" She shoved out her girlfriend and slammed the door in her face._

Erza muttered darkly and trudged into Fairy Tail. It was still open but was fairly empty. It was only one of the barmaids, Freed, Makarov (who was asleep at a table and slumped over paperwork) and two people she never expected to see. She saw Levy and Lucy sitting together at a table. The two girls drank tea and looked over papers made stiff by being covered in ink. They were the two people you always expected to be with but knew it probably wouldn't happen. However, it did. They had been together for a while but were rather covert with their relationship. Only team Natsu, team Shadow Gear, Makarov, and Mira knew about the relationship. They were a cute couple and really something to envy. Levy was one to push through problems and compromise, which was good for Lucy who had troubles in stressful situations. Lucy was timid, which fit Levy's shy personality, but one could see they brought confidence out of the other and made them a better version of themselves.

"Hey Erza, aren't you supposed to be spending tonight with the Strauss family?" Levy question. She clicked her blue inked pen. She was marking and editing the manuscript Lucy had written in black.

"No. I got kicked out by Mira." Erza raised her hand to the barmaid, signifying that she wanted her usual drink of bourbon, and sat down with the couple.

"What did you do?" Lucy sighed. She stirred more honey into her tea. She grinned when Levy passed her the small thing of milk they had at the table. She knew that Lucy's favorite tea was black tea with honey and milk.

"I just wanted Christmas with my girlfriend. This is our first Christmas living together. She wanted to have Elfman and Lisanna over and I never agreed to that, but that didn't matter."

"She wouldn't kick you out for that, and you wouldn't be so rude to leave for that reason," Levy sighed.

"I may have knocked over something…"

"Such as?"

Erza sighed. "Vanilla extract. It got on this recipe she had and a lot of the cookies she made. She threw me out when I tried to toss the ruined recipes. I don't know why."

"You're so dense!" Lucy groaned. "Those were family heirlooms. They're from her mother. Lisanna told me about them. They're the recipe in which her family made when she and her siblings were little kids. It's not just a recipe!"

Erza sighed and sipped her drink. "Damn it…"

"You need to make this right." Both the women wore the same look of scorn.

"How? She looked so angry and hurt."

"Why does it bother you so much?"

"Huh…well that's a personal thing," Erza mumbled and scratched her cheek.

"What? Have sex in a sexy Santa costume? That's just wrong," Levy told her. With that, she got a slap on the arm from Lucy.

"No! I can seduce her with a skimpy outfit any other day." Erza dismissed the joke with the wave of her hand. She looked demoralized. "I wanted to give her this…"She pulls out a small present and pulled off the lid.

"Oh, my…"Lucy picked up the box. She saw the blue sapphire gem that was emerald cut and with two smaller diamonds on its sides all placed on a white gold band. "You were going to propose?"

"That's why I wanted to be alone," Erza groaned. She covered her eyes. "Now Mira hates me and probably won't want to see me because I was whining and ruined her recipes! I messed up…"

"We can fix this," Levy said cautiously. "I think I can help."

"How!?" Erza was shouting as she tucked the ring back into her pocket.

"First, calm down. Second, I have made these cookies with her before. And what makes you lucky is that I have a photographic memory. So I know them." The bookworm smiled at her girlfriend. "Can I see your journal, Lu-chan?"

"Be my guest." Lucy slid over the hardcover journal. Levy gently ran over the leather spine, rubbing the metal bindings poking out from under the smooth material. She cracked said spine and flipped through the filled paged and tried to find empty ones. Her small fingers parted the pages that stuck slightly together due to the leafing of silver on the edges. The journal was a gift from Levy herself last Valentine's day, but that was another story. She held the thread in place and gently pulled out two sheets, equaling four pages. She tore at the crease where the pages were connected at the spine, giving her the four slips of paper she needed.

"Now…"Levy grabbed her fountain pen and twisted off the cap. "There were sugar cookies, gingerbread, shortbread and butter cookies." She wrote down the recipes in her small, neat handwriting. "And here is how she makes them."

"It seems she'd memorize it," Erza mused.

"Not really. It's not surprising if she couldn't. Lucy can't remember the recipe to meals we've made together dozens of times."

"Hey! It's not my fault that they're anything but simple." Lucy pouted.

"Sorry babe." Levy kissed her cheek.

"A kiss on the cheek won't make me forgive you," Lucy huffed.

"Well, I am making dinner for you tonight."

"What's my dessert? You? Because if it is, I'll happily enjoy it" Lucy smirked and winked at her lover. She grinned wider when Levy blushed. They were both timid, but Lucy got bold when Levy became embarrassed.

"Lu-chan!" Levy slapped Lucy's arm.

Erza sat back and smiled. The pair fit together quite well. They had spats, but they were never ones to hate or rival. They weren't lovers; they were friends fortunate enough to fall for their best friend. It was a love to envy. She knight grabbed the slips of paper and left the couple to return to their fun. She equipped a ribbon and tied it around the parchment. She saw the silver lilies in the corner of the pages, so small and fragile looking. It was hand painted onto the page and every page. It was all done with love. And Levy indeed did love Lucy.

She returned home and froze at the door. She heard three different voices. She knew who they were of course. One was her love and the others were the people she would one day call her in-laws. She inhaled deeply and opened the door. She felt silence settle in the apartment, taking away the warmth of the home. She took her coat off and placed the papers wrapped with a red ribbon on the kitchen table. She raised her gaze from the table and saw Mirajane staring at her. "I'm sorry," Erza croaked. She shrank down, feeling a cold gaze fall on her. "U-um…I didn't know. I didn't know those were a family sort of thing. And I just…wanted to be alone because of my own selfish reasoning. I'm sorry."

Mira put down her mug and got up from her seat. "Erza, I have this rule. It is that my family comes before everything else. That includes you."

"I understand that." Erza looked at her.

"We wanted Christmas with you two. Congratulate you on taking the next step," Lisanna said softly. Erza winced and felt her heart ache even more with guilt and less in anger. "Should we leave, sis?"

"No!" Erza cried. She held up her hands. "Stay…Mira wanted you over and you want to be over." She bit her lip. "I just had a plan…"

"That being?" Mira questioned.

"I don't…damn it." She pulled out the ring and exhaled slowly. "Mirajane. I'm not perfect. As everyone sees I'm loud and at times rude. But I love you, even if I sulk and argue. I want to marry you. Would you…want to marry me?" Erza was almost stuttering her words. She wasn't one for performance and Lisanna and Elfman made her feel as though an audience of eight thousand saw her asking Mira.

A thousand outcomes flashed through her mind as she saw the three pairs of wide blue sapphire eyes stare at her. She had never felt as demoralized as she had in this moment. One could ask her a second, a year or a decade later and she would still recall this moment to be the only time she had felt fear be so strong in a moment of safety. What would she face? A slap in the face? To be laughed up? To be kicked out? Just to get a flat out no? An ending of their relationship?

"Yes…"Mira said breathlessly. She pulled Erza close. "But you're an idiot."

"Fair enough," Erza chuckled and kissed her girlfriend's cheek. She put the ring on Mira's left ring finger. "Got any cookies?"

"None for you," Mira bemused. "You don't get any until tomorrow."

"Which you'll be having alone," Lisanna said.

"Huh? You guys are coming for dinner tomorrow…"Mira told.

"No. Not a manly thing to intrude on lovers. Especially their first Christmas as fiancées," Elfman called in his boisterous voice.

"Oh…then let's enjoy tonight!" Erza jeered. She wrapped her arms around Mira's waist. "So tomorrow is mine." She let go when Mira slapped her shoulder.

"Behave and get the cookies I was able to save from the kitchen."

Erza laughed and went to the kitchen. She sighed. _I overreacted. I'll have to make this up to her_ , Erza thought. She walked back with the tray of cookies and the recipes. She saw the three siblings were already into watching Hallmark movies and opening gifts. She smiled to herself. _I shouldn't feel like an outsider. This is a great family. Mira is part of it so I should try to be too._ She sat next to her fiancée and kissed her cheek. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too." Mira smiled.

"And you'll have to make these with me one year." She held up the parchments.

Mira looked at the pages with disbelief. She grabbed them and looked at the first recipe. "Wait…where did you get these?"

"I may have some help from the lovely bookworm couple."

"Levy," Mira chuckled. "I'll have to thank her."

"Yeah, we both owe her thanks." They cuddled up to each other and watched _It's A Wonderful Life_ while enjoying the happy ending to the night.

"So you'll no longer be a pouty scrooge?"

"I wasn't that bad," Erza pouted. Mira laughed at the redheaded cutie. Both had the same thought in the moment, _I'm so lucky to have her_.


End file.
